So someone asked about a big copper bowl, same as the Pewter Raven Bowl but in copper. I like that bowl too and copper seems a good thing to remake it in too. This is the last bit of an old water tank i acquired. I think this one is out of a house the last was from a boat. Trouble is its probably twice as thick as the copper i usually use but its do-able. Marked out a 12" circle, cut it out.
Bad pic i know but that it cut out, pity 12" was just enough to make the rest of it not at all useful for another bowl but what can you do ah!.
Old routine get it red hot and throw it in the bucket of water. Copper then is all soft and it work hardens as you beat it. Heat it red hot again and all the inner structure is reset back to soft and you can begin stretching it again.
Ah a welcome guest appearance of big 'ammer, notice i've cleaned up the copper too. vinegar and salt mixed give a good acid to get the nasty black and grunge off. Used with a pad of wire wool, it works well, if a little unkind to my fairly soft hands.
After one or two passes of Big 'ammer and its tightened up, so the gas torch makes it red and a quench makes it soft. Not much of a curve there, i told you it was thick! I counted the hits, it was 200 to get that curve. I beat it on the old tree stump rather than the sand bag. The sand bag has sprung a leak, the leather split the other day, so now when its hit it spouts dry sand all over the shop...must find some leather to make another one..
Another couple of passes and its curling up well, notice also the edge is getting an irritating pie crust look, i will have to do something about that!
Oh dear more wrinkles on the edge which i could try to convince people are desirable but... they are not really. This is in the kitchen sink after a wiz round with vinegar and salt, notice the real colour of copper is very pink. This pink corrodes to the normal copper colour in a few few moments in air.
And this is whats needed, my new hammer! Notice its long and can reach the deep bits. This is the bowl after i've hammered it all over, backed up on the railway track anvil. That's the way to get all those shiny dimples all over. I counted the hammers blows until i got bored/disheartened with that. It take 100 hammer bowls for every 2" squared. So about 2000 all over 'ish...which is frightening. No wonder my arm hurts. Anyway its now got an all over even finish and the nasty wrinkles all all hammered out. I've rolled the edge there too which firms the whole plot up a treat. And that is it thus far...
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